Remove .Pumax Virus Ransomware

The most probable reason you landed on our page is that a nasty Ransomware virus named .Pumax has encrypted your files and has placed a ransom demanding note on your screen. If this has really happened to your computer and all the personal files that you keep on it, then, unfortunately, you have a rather limited list of options to choose from. Fortunately, we may be able to provide you with some potentially working alternatives to this infection. Our team has prepared a detailed review of .Pumax and its specifics below as well as a step-by-step Removal Guide. There is also a professional removal tool in the description, which is extremely helpful in the automatic detection and removal of all kinds of viruses. So, despite the fact that the Ransomware’s attack is one of the most harmful you might encounter, you are not left alone to deal with its terrible consequences.

.Pumax Virus File

What can .Pumax do?

A Ransomware virus such as .Pumax is a classic example of an online blackmailing tool. This type of malware can easily rob you of your most important data by simply rendering it inaccessible with the help of a complex file-encryption. All of your dear memories, pictures, videos and also all your important projects, work files, databases and archives may suddenly get locked in such a way that you won’t be able to open or use them no matter what you do. And sadly, there is nothing that could guarantee you that you will access them again. That being said, you should not get discouraged and should instead try to understand the way this malware operates and research the available alternatives which might help you deal with it.

The viruses based on Ransomware code are created to blackmail you. They take your files hostage with the sole purpose of later demanding that you pay a ransom in exchange for their liberation. In order to eliminate any possibility for you to regain your files through some other methods, these viruses use very complex encryption algorithms which are very difficult to bypass. The hackers who create such threats seem to profit from them a lot because there are many frightened users who agree to pay the ransom with the hope of saving their files from the unbreakable encryption.

If I pay the ransom, will I save my files?

Sadly, we cannot really tell you what will happen if you agree to pay the ransom to the hackers. If you decide to do this, you should know that you are going to be dealing with some anonymous cyber criminals and the authorities may not be able to help you with that. If you give the hackers your money, you will basically sponsor their blackmailing scheme yet the future of your files and their liberation will still not be guaranteed. There are cases in which the victims have strictly complied with the ransom demands without receiving a decryption key. We also know of cases in which the decryption keys that the crooks have send to the victims have not worked and have failed to reverse the complex encryption which the Ransomware has applied. After all, the file decryption is a very delicate process and even the smallest mistake in the code can corrupt it and make it useless and the hackers are very unlikely to care about repairing it once they have received your money. This is the main reason why we often suggest that users try everything in their power to avoid paying money to the criminals and instead opt for some alternatives.

What alternatives should you try?

In many cases, unfortunately, the user might have to accept the fact that a major part of their data will remain encrypted forever no matter what they do. This is the reason why many people are skeptical that there is anything worthy trying. That’s why they don’t even research for alternative options which might help them deal with the Ransomware’s effects on their data. After all, if the hackers responsible for the encryption cannot offer a guaranteed solution that could flawlessly fix what their malware has done, how could one expect that anything else could help?

Well, bear in mind that this might not always be the case. There are a few things which might still prove to be helpful and might save some of the data if one gives them a try. One of them is the use of previously created file backups. You can try to either extract backup copies from your system or just use external backups such as your cloud accounts or from other devices or external drives. However, if you decide to use backups, you must first remove the Ransomware virus from the system. In the Removal Guide below, we have described the exact steps for that but if you need automatic assistance, you can also use the professional .Pumax removal tool that we’ve recommended in the guide for fast and effective detection and elimination.

Another option to restore some of your data is to search for a special decryptor tool and try to break the .Pumax encryption with it. A frequently updated list of decryptor tools is available on our website so have a look at it if you like. Last but not least, you may decide to contact a security professional of your choice and consult with them about the possible courses of action. Paying the ransom should be your last resort option and should be considered only if nothing else works.

Remove .Pumax Virus Ransomware

Prior to starting to execute the steps from the guide, we advise you to either bookmark this page or open it on a separate device since throughout the process of completing the guide, you might need to exit your browser.

1: Using Safe Mode

Before beginning to troubleshoot the issue, you are advised to enter Safe Mode on your PC. If you do not know how to do that, use this guide on how to enter Safe Mode.

2: Spotting the process

Open your Task Manager using the Ctrl + Shift + Esc key combination. Next, go to the processes tab and carefully look through the list for any shady entries. Usually, malicious processes will be consuming large amounts of CPU and RAM and will either have no description or will have a suspicious-looking one.

Once you identify the virus’ process, right-click on it and select Open File Location. Delete everything in the folder that opens if you are sure that the process was malicious. If you are not sure, contact us in the comments.

Go back to the Task Manager and end the potentially harmful process.

3: Hosts file IP’s

Go to your start menu and in the search field, paste the following address: notepad %windir%/system32/Drivers/etc/hosts. Select the first result and look at the bottom of the newly opened notepad file. See if there are any IP’s below “Localhost” and tell us in the comments if there were any IP addresses.

4: System Configuration Startup Programs

Type System Configuration in the Windows search bar and open the first result. Go to the Startup tab and take a look at the list of startup programs (on Windows 10, the Startup programs can be seen in the Startup Section of the Task Manager). If any of them look shady or have unknown manufacturer or a manufacturer with a sketchy name, uncheck those entries and click on OK.

5: Registry

Open the Run window (WinKey + R), type regedit and press Enter. Once the Registry Editor opens, press Ctrl + F and type the name of the virus. Select Find Next and delete whatever gets found that has the virus’ name. Do that with all search results.

6: Deleting potential virus files

Open the Start Menu and separately type each of the following locations: %AppData% %LocalAppData% %ProgramData% %WinDir% %Temp% . Open each of those folders and sort their contents by date. Delete the most recent files and folders. When you open the Temp folder, delete everything in it.